The Spirits Of Vengeance
by Lucifer Seraph
Summary: Percy, Thalia, Nico, and Annabeth have been betrayed. Cast out and down. Punished for years for crimes they didn't commit. With help of a god, and somethings more, they will take on their own quest. They will search for salvation... A quest of vengeance.
1. Chapter 1

This is a story of betrayal, anger, hurt, pain, and maybe even love. This is a story of vengeance; a story a family ties torn and friendships severed. This is the story of revenge.

After the Giant War. Thalia. Nico. Annabeth. And me, Percy. We're all that's left of the old demigods. We four are the only remnants of what was once the greatest half-blood generation. Now we are considered _archaic_. Archaic, and we're all 18, save Nico who's only 16. We fought in the Titan War, but now were cast out and _down_. Down as in the Underworld, Hades, Hell… none of that matters to us anymore. We have a slipping grip on sanity. We're put through heinous tortures every day, and we can only guess at whether it's day or night. For all we know, an eternity could have passed in the mortal world. But we're still stuck down here.

But that's all news to you, I expect. You don't know the story, and you must for the one to come. We were cast out without much of a second thought.

I suppose you know of Frank, Leo, Piper, Jason, Hazel. Son of Mars, son of Vulcan, daughter of Aphrodite, son of Jupiter, and daughter of Pluto respectively. The other five demigods in the Great Prophecy. Not sure if there's another one yet. If you're wondering what they're doing these days, here's your answer. They're lounging around in Elysium as of right now.

A week after the war was over a stray group of rather odd hooded monsters that ambushed us in the night. We were out in a forest in Colorado on a getaway camping vacation. Thalia had insisted we go with her to learn how to hunt. We were out in the forest when an earsplitting scream pierced the natural silence of the nighttime woods.

We raced back to the campsite to see strange robed figures slitting throats. With a hoarse yell we leaped into combat. After cutting down our enemies, our swords were dripping with blood. Red blood, mortal blood. We could never find out what these mysterious assailants were, their bodies and robes, along with their weapons vanished into darkness. Almost like liquid shadow.

As if on cue, the Olympians arrived. All of them, every major god. They had confused, puzzled, disappointment on their faces. They stood there looking at the scene.

Zeus stepped forward and spoke. "For the murder of five important demigods of the Great Prophecy, you are sentenced to a lifetime of torture in Tartarus."

All of our jaws dropped. I spoke up. "Are you serious?" Zeus just nodded, face growing angrier by the second. "We didn't kill them. We killed the murderers, they were robed in black and misted away into darkness."

"Then why is your blade dripping blood, _boy_." Artemis said in a voice so cold I saw Thalia shiver beside me.

Unfazed, I replied. "Lady Artemis, these assassins were mortal." Her face was cold. I glanced at my father.

"I cannot believe you Perseus." He said in a whisper. I was shocked, how could he think this.

"For crimes against the Olympian counsel, I sentence you all to a-" Zeus was interrupted by Hades.

"My lord, what if they are telling the truth?" Hades asked in a quietly respectful voice.

"Silence!" Zeus thundered. "You are all sentenced to a lifetime in Tartarus. Maybe this will give some of the… others something to do." On that ominous note, all of them flashed away and the world turned black.

That is the reason we are in Tartarus. Hades is kind enough to come down here and give us some respite from the torture, and I believe that he was not involved in the making of our current regime.

Our first punishments came from the gods themselves. Artemis personally took away Anaklusmos saying I had shamed Zoë and left permanent scars on my face. A jagged x on my left cheek and a crescent moon going from the corner of my left eye to the corner of my mouth on the same side. That line went through the middle of the x while the outside line just touched the outside of the two lines that made up the x. It was like a face painting… At an abusement park.

Not once did I let tears gather in my eyes and fall. Not once did I let a cry of pain, but kept glaring defiantly. Artemis then went over to Thalia, she tried to keep the tears from falling. But they came down like a waterfall. Artemis whipped an arrow out of her quiver and scarred Thalia's flawless face with deep, long scratches down each side of her face so much like the tears falling down her cheeks at that moment.

"I would've expected something like this from a man. But not you. You're just like them." Artemis uttered the last part as a whisper, but I caught it and the sob that came from Thalia was heart wrenching. Nico and Annabeth were too far away for me to see but I didn't hear a peep from either of them. Good. They were still strong.

When Artemis finally stepped away, uncontrolled fury rushed over her features and she began speaking in ancient Greek. "Με τις αρμοδιότητες που έχουν ανατεθεί σε μένα, εγώ σας βρίζουν Θάλεια Γκρέις. Μπορεί ποτέ βέλη σας πετάξει κατ 'ευθείαν και ο στόχος σας δεν είναι αλήθεια."

I barely caught what she was saying but when I deciphered it, I gasped. No, that was cruel. To take away her archery… Now Thalia was truly cast away from the hunters.

Artemis assumed her place on her throne and Zeus stood up. "Demigods, you're act of treason is great. I now renounce your parentage and take away your powers." He pointed his master bolt at us and an excruciating pain lanced through me like a hot knife through butter, splitting me in half, again the world went dark.

That was a walk in the park compared to the torture that followed. The three Furies worked on us personally 24/7. Our bodies were littered with scars. We were never blinded no matter how much the Furies pleaded. The reason was so that we could see our friends bodies bloodied and battered. Our faces remained clear of scars except for what Artemis left. I found that Annabeth had Daedalus's triangle on her right cheek and Nico had the Roman numeral II on both of his cheeks. I never figured out why that was important. I never had a respite and the resolve to ask him.

Now, back to the present day… or night. Either or. With the increasingly frequent visits from Hades, I learned that we had been in Tartarus for several years. We were shocked. We hadn't noticed. But after we glanced at one another, we noticed a lot of changes. I was taller than ever, and my hair had bleached to a horrifyingly white color and my eyes turned gray. I had also noticed it had straightened and was now down to my shoulders. Thalia's hair was still a luscious black, but it now fell down to her hips and her eyes had also grayed. It was the same with Annabeth, her hair was the same color, though much longer than it was previously. Nico had always had long black hair, and it seemed untouched, along with eyes. They were still black.

Hades gave us a proposition. He would release us from our torture and we would have a lifetime indenture to him and working to bring in souls and things like that. As you could expect, we leaped at the chance.

We were unshackled and led to Hades' palace, passing through the Asphodel Fields, and through the garden with silver trees. As the black gates opened, we stepped inside and Hades flashed us to a room. A blank room with nothing but a table with five black boxes on the table.

"If I remember correctly, Artemis stole your powers Thalia." Hades started, almost hesitant.

"Don't call her that. No longer use our names. We don't exist to the world." I choked out harshly, Hades looked chastised as if I had reprimanded him.

"Right, well… I remember you have a reasonable skill with a spear, am I correct." Hades asked, carefully this time.

Thalia cracked a grin and said with dry sarcasm, "Just ask Kelp Head." I played along with her.

"Since when could you ever beat me, Pinecone Face." I said, my voice came back with some of the humor I possessed.

"Since you couldn't beat me anymore." Annabeth joined in. I glared at her.

Nico started cracking up and Thalia, Annabeth, and I joined him a moment later. We laughed in front of a very bemused Hades for several minutes, until I caught my breath and said between gasps. "Man, I needed that. Two years of solid torture can give you a cramp in the funny bone."

"Wow, Seaweed Brain. Your humor hasn't gotten any better." Annabeth said with a dead straight face in a monotone. But it didn't hold and she grinned. I smiled as well. The old gang was back again.

"Well… um… Back to what I was saying before, I have weapons for all four of you. Tha…" Thalia glared at Hades hard. He stopped. But jumped right back in. "Well what do you want me to call you?!" Hades said exasperated.

We glanced at each other. "We don't know, but we'll figure it out sometime soon."

Hades started _again_. "For you," He pointed at Thalia. "Gungnir. The spear of the God Odin, The All-Father." We gaped at him. "Yes, the Norse Gods were real enough. They are, or were, many times stronger than us. But through a series of events that was not shared with us, all of the gods were wiped out and only two weapons survived. And we would find them at the beginning of our existence. They were locked away down here where no one but myself, Zeus, and Poseiden knew where they were."

I opened my mouth to protest but was cut off. "I have decided to give them to you as a gift. Because what you are doing is similar to what the Valkyries did." He smiled and continued. "I know that you," He pointed at me, "Have an exceptional skill with a sword; and you," He pointed at Thalia this time, "Are rather advanced with a spear. So, she gets Gungnir and you get the legendary sword Völsung, wielded by Siegfried and used to slay the great Dragon Falnir."

I was stunned into speechlessness; we were being given weapons of legend beyond what I could ever have imagined. Hades walked up to the table and motioned us closer. We stood up and walked to the table. "Here, this first one is Gungnir." He opened up the box and everyone leaned closer. What we saw was magnificent. A gleaming golden shaft with a silver, four-edged spearhead. A glimmering pearl of no discernable color was set just behind the tip.

"Here" Hades reached into the box and gently took out Gungnir. He gave it to Thalia. "If you speak the words Það er fært* it will shrink into a ring. Speak the words Réttlæti mun vera liðin** and it will transform into its natural form. In ring form it will never come off your finger, so you don't have to worry about losing it." Hades gave it to an awestruck Thalia. "Go ahead, try it."

"Það er fært." Thalia said, getting it right the first time. Gungnir glowed softly and shrunk to a golden ring with a pearl at the top. "This is so cool." Thalia muttered with barely contained excitement.

"Next up is Völsung." My head snapped back to the Lord of the Dead. He went and opened up the second box on the table. I rushed to it, eager to see my new weapon. What I saw was the biggest sword I've ever laid eyes upon. The blade was gleaming silver with rays of blood red shooting through it. It must have been six feet long and six inches wide. The hilt was, if possible, was even grander. It was gold with red leather inlaid into the handle. The pommel had a ruby with a nasty spike pointing down. That would leave a gory wound if slammed into a head. The cross guard was ornate. A golden topaz was set just below the blade and red lines shot out from it across the blade and the rest of the cross guard, like rays of a sunset. The rest of it was a dragon, its roaring head was on the right side and its spiked tail on the other.

Hades picked it up out of the box and handed it to me. I felt a surge of power run through me as my hand touched it. Looking at it again, I realized it was a good thing I was much taller, now pushing 6' 6". As both my hands wrapped around the hilt, and I took the entire weight of the sword, I almost dropped it. "Holy shit! This thing must weigh at least 50 pounds!" I exclaimed.

Hades smirked. "About 60, actually."

My eyes bugged out. "How am I supposed to swing this thing if I can barely even old it?"

Thalia laughed at me. "Grow some muscles Seaweed Brain."

"I have muscles!" I protested vainly.

"Yeah right." Nico said sarcastically rolling his eyes.

"Shut up Dead Boy, or I'll make you one." I said ominously, but with a playful undertone. "I may not be able to swing this very fast but it has one hell of a momentum."

Nico paled, obviously not catching the joking around. Annabeth and Thalia must have because they started to laugh.

A deep rumble shook the room and everybody froze immediately. "Damnit!" Hades cursed. "That'll be Zeus. I am going to have to send you away from here for now. But I need those weapons back. He comes to check on them every two years. I forgot that this was the day he was coming. Damnit!"

Thalia quickly handed Gungnir back to Hades after speaking the incantation to return it to its spear form. I put Völsung back in its box and Hades waved his hand at us.

"Wait, where…" I was cut off as I felt us being teleported.

**A/N: I am going to try writing. It doesn't give me a physical output, but I already have something for that… Martial Arts… This is a way to pour out my conflicting feelings. I hope you like this combination of Greek and Norse Mythology.**

***It is brought.**

****Justice will be passed.**

**These are in Icelandic.**


	2. Chapter 2

We came out of the shadows and into blinding sunlight in which we instantly covered our eyes. Once I slowly adjusted I looked around. With a start, I saw a sign that said: _Delphi Strawberry Service_.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Nico said, in an emotionless voice. I turned and looked at him to roll my eyes and looked back at the sign.

My eyes widened and I did a double take. "Nico! What the hell happened to your hair?" His hair had bleached as white as mine. Thalia and Annabeth turned to look at him and Thalia gasped.

"Your hair's white! Like Percy's." Annabeth said, dumbstruck. Nico glared at her and Thalia.

"So… Your hair's the same way." THAT surprised them and they grabbed at their hair. It was indeed white.

Thalia let out an enraged scream. I grinned mischievously. Walking over to Nico, I said in a stage whisper, making sure the girls could hear me. "Is it just me, or is their vanity eternally wounded."

A grin overtook his face and he nodded vigorously. Annabeth's and Thalia's heads snapped in our direction and I froze, now afraid for my life. "JACKSON!" Thalia yelled, and she and Annabeth took after me. I, of course, was running, a crazed expression flashed across my face.

In my haste to save my life, I didn't look where I was running and before long I noticed where I was. "Ohhhhh shit." I said, stopping suddenly.

My soon-to-be tormenters ran into me simultaneously, their complexion murderous. But that changed completely when they saw the crowd in front of us. The crowd of campers. We are so screwed.

I heard Nico crashing behind us, yelling. "HEY GUYS! YOU DO KNOW WHERE WE ARE, RIGHT?!" He froze as he saw the campers. Luckily, Chiron wasn't with them because if he was, word would have definitely got out. It was risky as it was.

Hopefully they couldn't see our faces that clearly. "We should probably go now." I whispered to Thalia and Annabeth. Louder, I yelled to the campers. "Sorry! We'll just be going now!" As an afterthought, I added, "Don't follow us if you value your lives."

One camper raised his bow and let an arrow loose. I saw it flying for Annabeth. Despair overtook me and I did the first thing that came to me. I reached out and grabbed the arrow. I had gotten to it just in time; the razor-sharp broad head was an inch away from her face.

I was surprised as hell, but I didn't show it. After I got past the fact that Annabeth had almost been killed, fury washed over me. My head whipped around to look at the camper who had shot it. "I warned you." My voice was dripping with venom, promising pain.

I took a few short, quick steps and threw the arrow straight at him. Hard. I watched with sadistic glee as it tore through his neck and splattered the surrounding people with blood and gore. He dropped to his knees and then fell facedown. As his neck hit the ground, the arrow was pushed further through his neck, pushing part of his spine through the back. I saw several campers puke.

On a whim, I stepped into the shadows of the surrounding trees and concentrated, closing my eyes. I felt wind rushing past me and then it stopped.

When I opened my eyes, I was in front of DOA Recording Studios. Well that was convenient. I felt something and spun, bringing my fists up. I dropped them when I saw Nico, Annabeth, and Thalia.

"Hey, cool! We can shadow travel!" Nico exclaimed, obviously excited.

"I thought that our powers were taken away?" Thalia asked.

"They were. But shadow is Hades' realm. And Nico is the only living son of Hades." I replied, giving a valid point. "Hades must have given us some of his powers without our knowledge or consent, not that I'm complaining."

"I second that." Thalia said.

"Third." Annabeth.

"Fourth." Nico.

"Well, let's go see an old friend, eh. How much do you think Charon will charge us this time?" I said, smirking.

We walked in and saw Charon sitting at his desk with his trademark Italian suit. "And how did you die." He sounded tired and bored.

A thought crossed my mind. "Drowned in the bathtub." Sarcasm was evident and I smiled in nostalgia as I remembered that time so long ago.

Charon looked at us again, with more surprise and interest in his eyes. "Come again?"

"You heard him."

"You're not really dead, are you?" Suspicion replaced all other emotion. It was clear in every aspect of his voice and expression.

"Nope." I said, not trying to disguise my contempt. Charon looked like he was going to say something, but I cut him off. "Well… If you can't help us, then we'll just find our own way."

I walked towards the wall and was swallowed by the shadows, the rest following. I shadow travelled, but not before I heard Nico say in a mocking voice. "Keep it sharp, _Chiron_."

I appeared in front of Hades' palace and turned around, doubling over in laughter. I was met by three other laughing demigods. "Did you see his face?"

I laughed harder and harder until I was on the ground gasping for breath. "Oh, _man_. Nico, that last part was just too much."

The palace doors swung open and Hades walked out. "Hey, guys-"

When I heard that voice I jumped up and glared at him. "Do you realize where you sent us?" My tone dipped down to a deep, angry one.

"Ummmm…"

"That's what I thought. You sent us to the outskirts of Camp Half-Blood." I growled.

"Sorry, sorry." Hades raised his hand up in defeat. "I didn't have time to choose. If Zeus had seen you, we all would have been done for."

I let it drop; after all, he was right. And a god. I brought up the other issue. "So… we now have some power over your domain now, do we?"

Hades' face lit. "Oh yeah! I forgot to tell you that you now have as much power over my domain as a regular child of mine does."

"Well, that's brilliant. But… WHY IS OUR HAIR WHITE!" Thalia screamed at him. Annabeth followed that with a solid nod.

I swear even Hades paled. "Well… That is actually not my fault. When your powers were taken away, that was when the process started. Your hair bleaches and eyes grey."

Thalia and Annabeth got over themselves and Hades ushered us to the same room we were in before. I was eager, once I had a taste of the power of Völsung… It was almost a tangible feeling, like pain. Then it hit me. I had just killed someone, by my own hand-kind of, and it wasn't a monster. He probably had a family and siblings that cared about him.

I dropped to the floor in a sitting position with my legs tented. My back was against the wall. _I _was the monster. Annabeth and the others looked at me questioningly. "I'm a monster." I whispered.

"No you're not." Annabeth replied immediately.

"Yeah, you may be a Kelp Head, but you aren't a monster." Thalia said.

I felt anger consume me. "This is not a joke Thalia! You saw what I did to that camper that almost killed Annabeth. I was happy that he died." My voice had dropped to a self-hateful murmur. "And just now, I wanted Völsung _so_ bad, I would kill anyone for it."

Thalia dropped down next to me and said, "Come on. You need to cheer up."

I shook my head, despair had overwhelmed anything else. "Just get your weapons."

**(Thalia POV)**

Wow, I don't think I've ever seen Percy this depressed. Ever. This is a new low. I turned back to Hades and motioned for him to continue. I knew I couldn't deny my growing feelings for him. But I knew he loved Annabeth and Annabeth loved him. I wouldn't get in the way of that. I couldn't do that to either of them.

"I know that Gungnir and Völsung are already taken, but I forged some weapons of my own." Hades went to the third box on the table. "Here is a dagger made out of unbreakable, unmeltable Stygian Ice." The box wasn't very large, just about arms length. He opened it and took out a glistening blue dagger that was of a respectable length. Hades flipped the dagger around and offered it to Annabeth.

"Do not let that blade cut you. It will immediately freeze the blood around the wound; once cut, no matter how small it is, your blood will slowly freeze until it reaches your heart. Very painful." Next, Hades took out the sheath. It was unimpressive leather, didn't even match up to Gungnir's ring-sheath.

Moving on to the next box, a very long and skinny one, but rather high. Flipping open the lid, I saw three, one-edged, curved swords. They were of different length. The one on the bottom was very, very long. Not as long as Völsung, but close enough. The next one up was about three-quarters the size. The top one was rather short, maybe half the length of the longest. The blades were Stygian Iron, and the sheaths were even more impressive; well, for sheaths, that is. They were Imperial Gold mixed with platinum.

"These I made a while back, maybe a few millennia ago. A Katana I named Kutsuu. A Ninjato named Ikari. And a Wakizashi named Kurushimi. The Japanese intrigued me and I went and stayed a little. The names mean Pain, Anger, and Sorrow respectively."

Hades put the blades in their sheath and clipped them onto a belt. The katana was on the left and the other two were on the right. Hades handed the belt to Nico who clipped it on. I went over to Völsung's box and opened it. It was in a sheath. I reached in and pulled it out and tucked it under my left arm. Then I went over to Gungnir's box and flipped the lid and grabbed it. "Það er fært." I muttered and slipped the ring around my right ring finger.

I walked over to Percy and offered Völsung to him. Percy looked up at me miserably and I felt my heart wrench as his beautiful face contorted in pain and self-loathing. He grabbed it and I pulled him to his feet and gave him a big, _friendly_ hug.

"What's in the last box?" I heard Nico ask and I was suddenly curious as well.

"That box holds something that I cannot at this time tell you. It will become clear later." Hades answered.

Damn the gods and their cryptic natures.

"Well, well, well." An ominous, very angry voice growled from the doorway. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I knew that voice. Someone from what seemed to be a long time ago. Someone that I had hoped to never see again.

It was Zeus. My father

**A/N: Okay, sorry for changing everything, but I found that my plot would take better form this way. So… I hope you continue to read regardless. Yes, this will end up a Perlia, but that is only a minor part and won't change anything… Well, won't change much. Don't kill me because of the cliffhangar… PWEASE!**

**CH33z8URgR, You know who you are if this means anything to you. By the way, how's the duct tape suit going. Can't wait to see it finished.**


	3. Chapter 3

Every one spun around and I jumped up from my spot on the wall, flicking Völsung out of its sheath and holding it in front me in a defensive position. This was bad; very, very, _very _bad. We couldn't kill him, it would upset the balance in everything. And I doubt we could fight and win.

It was a face off. Zeus was holding his Masterbolt like he was ready to fire at any given moment. A quick glance at the others and I saw they held their weapons ready. Barring Hades, who, of course, had obviously shadow travelled away. That pissed me off, but that way he could stay out of it, we still get the weapons if we escape, and he can still help us. But none of those reasons held back the hatred.

"I'm curious. How did you escape your tortures?" Zeus questioned us, like he had already won. "A little help from Hades I expect."

Nico snorted. "Really?" He sounded incredulous and mocking at the same time. "I know my father and he will do whatever he can to not get himself killed. Releasing us would be one of those things, along with the weapons." I know that he liked his father, but what he said held a ring of truth.

"So… _Zeus_." Thalia snarled, making his name sound like an insult. "Did you find yourself a new favorite child."

"Shut up!" He growled back at her. "You aren't even worthy to be called my daughter." He raised his bolt, ready to fire.

"I wouldn't do that Zeus." I said dangerously. He turned and looked at me. "You know, you are really stupid. When you figure out that we didn't kill the others, and want to forgive us, it will be too late. You've just given yourselves a _long _time of pain. But we cannot kill you. So you have that comfort."

Zeus's face didn't change in the slightest. We were really screwed if words couldn't faze him, neither could we win.

Wait a minute... I FORGOT! We can shadow travel! I sheathed Völsung and slung it over my shoulder holding onto the straps. "You know... I really don't feel like continuing this conversation. _You_ know we can't beat you; _we_ know we can't beat you; _you_ know that _we_ know that we can't beat you... Yet. But we'll be back. Our master bids you a farewell as well." I concentrated on a place that I was sure Zeus wouldn't find us. At least I hope he wouldn't. I sunk into the shadows, glaring at Zeus with the biggest gun I had in my arsenal.

I saw him wince a bit and I smiled, an evil smile. God it felt so good. This power... I felt amazing.

Wind rushed past me and I hoped that the others would get out okay. We really needed to come up with some plan to communicate. Finding them might be a pain. But this power I felt, it was like being supercharged. Almost like when I still had my powers and I was standing in saltwater.

I felt myself come out of the shadows and in front of my mom's apartment. Ozone immediately filled my nose. No, please let this not be what I think it is. I kicked down the door and the smell intensified. No, no, no, no.

I ran in and burst through the door into my mom's room. And there she was, sprawled ungracefully on the covers, bloody.

"No..." I whispered. "NOOOOOOOOO!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. Overwhelming, consuming rage flowed through and around me. I felt an intense urge to kill, an impulse to slaughter, murder.

_Yes... You like it... You want it... Give in, don't fight it..._

A voice echoed in my head and I wanted to listen to it badly... But something was keeping me from it, like a part of my mind was resisting against it for some reason.

I heard several gasps from behind me and I spun around, rage instantly taking over my movements. I didn't recognize that these people were my friends.

I yelled in anger and whipped out Völsung. The people in front of me backed up, and the rational part of my mind was trying to tell me that these people were friends, not enemies. That thought was quickly erased and I brought Völsung down in a vicious arc. The blond girl- Annabeth, my mind told me weakly- leaped to the side. I turned my gaze to her and swung the sword parallel to the ground, aiming for her waist. She jumped back and flicked a dagger out of its sheath.

I swung Völsung in another overhead strike and the dagger went up to block. It struck the dagger and drove the girl to her knees. My mind had been purged of anything but killing. I backed up and thrust my sword at her. She deflected it but I whirled around to strike the side opposite the one that that Völsung had been deflected to. I watched as the sword bit deep into her right side and I was stricken what had I done. "ANNABETH!" I cried and dropped Völsung. I tried to reach her to pull her into a hug... But Nico and Thalia held me back.

I looked into Annabeth's eyes and I saw betrayal and hurt. "ANNABETH! I SWEAR IT WASN'T ME! THE SWORD CONTROLLED ME! Please..." My voice dropped into a sob as I tore my gaze away from her and into Thalia's "Please believe me! I swear on the River Styx that I didn't do it willingly!" Thunder rumbled, and nothing happened, but Thalia and Nico still didn't look convinced. "I swear on the body of my dead mother!" That seemed to convince them... They knew I would never joke about her, especially if she was dead. They released me and I crawled to Annabeth.

"Hey, Seaweed Brain..." She said weakly. "I understand... When I touched it, I felt an ancient, powerful force. I don't hold it against you."

"Please don't die..." I knew it was weak, unfounded, and could never come true... But I couldn't help it. "I love you... I love you."

Annabeth smiled weakly and returned the gesture. "I love you too." I sat there, staring into her eyes as the lights left them. I dropped her hand and wailed.

"ANNABETH!"

**(Thalia POV Continuing)**

I felt my heart wrench looking at the result of the scene that had just unfolded. Percy screaming and Annabeth dead. _Dead_. I can't believe that she was actually gone. I loved her like a sister, but I couldn't fathom the depths of what Percy was feeling.

Nico must have seen my eyes and seen what laid there because he nodded at him. "Go comfort him." I saw an emotion flicker across his face, pain. Percy was like a big brother to him and seeing him like this must have hurt him a lot too.

I dropped down beside Percy and offered my arms. He took the chance at once and the next thing I knew he was sobbing into my shoulder. It surprised me, but I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him close. If only we could be like this forever, minus the tears and sorrow and suffering.

Nico smiled at me... damn him. Now I'll never be able to get him off my back about Percy. "Everything will turn out okay. Just you wait and see." I whispered in his ear, and I felt him shift. I wonder why that is.

Well, I have a hunch. I just hope it's right.

**A/N: Well... Sorry for the short chapter... And if this is a little rushed, you know... Annabeth dying and all, just let me know! There will be some one-sided Perlia for the next few chapters in Thalia POV. Hope you continue reading!**


	4. Chapter 4

We, meaning me, Percy, Thalia, and Nico, were just hanging at a local coffee shop, sipping lattes and absent-mindedly munching on cinnamon rolls; decided what we should do in the immediate future. Nico had his swords on the table wrapped up in a cloth and Thalia had Gungnir around her finger. Before we had left the Underworld, I had tossed Völsung in the River Styx. I know, I know; you're thinking: That was one of the most powerful swords ever! Well, frankly, it's because it _is_ the most powerful swords that made want to toss it. Hades protested, but we made him shut up.

Speaking of Hades, we had tried to make him spill on what was in that really big box with the other weapons, but no such luck. He said he swore an oath to someone (that someone Hades failed to mention) that he wouldn't tell anyone about the contents of the box. We also had him swear on the Styx that he didn't tell Zeus anything about us. He must have been telling the truth because there was no spontaneous combustion to be spoken of.

We have to be a lot more careful on what we do and where we go nowadays. Zeus had told the Olympian Council and we already had a run-in with Athena. Not a pretty experience. She had gone all warrior goddess on us and Thalia had to blind her with Gungnir so we could shadow travel out of there. As much as I don't like Hades, the last thing we need is another god after us. That and powers over shadow was really useful.

The cafe we were in was a place called One Cup in a town just out of Colorado Springs called Monument. I kept finding my eyes drifting to Thalia for reasons I cannot explain. She really has been a very good fried to me over my years as a half-blood.

"So..." I started, trying to kick off a conversation. "Where do you think we should go next?" We've only been on the run for about a month or so, so we don't really have plan to get back together if we get separated.

"I dunno. Probably someplace remote. Like a random town or something. Maybe a forest." Nico suggested.

"No. Not a forest. At least not in the U.S." Thalia shot down Nico's idea immediately. When she saw the look on his face, she put forth a viable reason. "Artemis will know if we go into the wilderness."

Nico nodded his head in acceptance. "Well... What about Alaska? It's, like, 5,000 miles from New York, right? Kinda hard to get further than that while on the same continent. Plus it's remote." I said.

"Actually, that's a great idea." Thalia and Nico agreed.

"Okay, it's official-" I stopped as the bell jingled and two people walked in. A man with blond hair holding the hand of a little girl with auburn hair. I looked back at Nico but I flicked my eyes back the pair as I realized who the pair was. Apollo and Artemis.

They chose a booth just behind us and I leaned forward. "Apollo and Artemis. One booth behind us. We need to leave, _now_." Their eyes widened slightly but they nodded.

We rose as one and headed towards the door. We got to the door when a man with white hair and a white beard and blue eyes walked through the door.

Zeus. Shit.

"Oh shit. This is bad." Nico whispered and backed up. We backed up with him but before long we hit another person. I spun around to see Apollo's dazzling smile. Damn it.

They were backing us up into a corner that was, unfortunately, devoid of any shadow. Artemis stepped in front of Zeus and Apollo, her face contorted in rage. She grew to her eighteen year old form and she reached forward and grabbed my shirt with her fist and dragged me out along with Thalia and Nico being pulled by the two other gods.

We didn't struggle because it was pointless. Well, we will if we get a chance to escape. We were thrown into a dark alley-way, so Zeus must have been stupider than he looked because he forgot that we could shadow travel.

Artemis looked like she was about to explode and she opened her mouth to yell at us. I cut her off, " Why do you think that we killed the others?" I blurted. Fuck you ADHD.

She looked taken aback, but the other two didn't look any less furious. "All of the evidence points towards it, that's why." She sounded indignant.

"We didn't kill them. We would swear on the Styx, but we already tried that and you didn't believe that. There isn't a more binding oath. At least, not that we know of." Honestly, I had given up. I was not going to try to escape. M y shoulders slumped.

My head rose, and my eyes met Artemis's. "Fine. Kill me. It was me. I killed them." Thalia and Nico looked looked over, shocked. I saw Nico open his mouth, but I glared at him fiercely. "Go ahead, smite me, kill me, strike me down. I know you want to. I can see it in your eyes. The anger, the hate, the betrayal." The god's eyes smoldered. "Are you cowards? Take your vengeance. I tricked these two into helping me. How does it feel? How does it feel to know that one of your most trusted, destroyed those you loved the most."

A harsh, rakish grin took over my face. My eyes glowed with cruel glee. Those stayed on my face even as my head rolled to the floor.

**A/N: I'm really sorry about the super short chapter, but I wanted a cliffhangar and I couldn't fit a longer one. Have a good one!**


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